#American Idiot. But also Delays

[aeolianblues]

Also! Guys I'm doing a 2004 special on my show tonight, in fact, it's not really my show anymore. We're combining two shows together to have a 3-hour chunk block of just 2004 music!

[insanescriptist]

Flip the Table

Casually eavesdropping on what should be highly secure frequencies, Jason sipped his beer in a sleezy saloon style sports bar somewhere on the Vegas strip, nominally watching college(?) football; he's a hockey fan because baseball's boring as shit to watch and he's never got the appeal about American football. Football to the rest of the world was at least worth watching for the drama. Something had the Justice League in a tizzy and Zatanna -the one who normally covered Vegas when it came to the costumed crazies- was off world; Jason didn't have the details exactly but it sounded like Zatanna was dealing with some magical planar stuff and was not expected back for at least six more days. Assuming all went well.

So like any reasonable person who's going away for a time, she turned on her home security, had the alerts wired over to a friend -in this case Justice League Dark- gave a list of what was needed to be done and when -the pick up my mail and mow my lawn equivalants- went on her trip, trusting that the JLD were watching over her city and it wouldn't be on fire when she got back.

Such glorious hope.

And thus something happened so when Jason pulled into Vegas proper to investigate a desperate -read last hope- lead on a missing person's case, Jason happened to spy one of the lesser members of the JLD losing their shit in the sky. And so in a moment of civic duty, Jason started spying on them.

Magic was not something anyone trained by the Bat really ever got comfortable about, but chances were magic bullshit was going to intervene in his case. Justice League shit spilled over everything, all the time. Ghost cultists tripping Zatanna's necromancy alarms or whatever they were, was not Jason's business. Not unless the presumed cultists -those that had survived- had the person he was looking for.

No, he was looking at a missing person's case and his lead was 1. cold and 2. a longshot and 3. in a city full of tourists and catering staff, where "seen anything unusual lately" could be "there was this trio of tourists arguing how sex with your best friend doesn't count as cheating," or "someone having a meltdown over the delayed shipping of organic blueberries to the hotel," or "Sarah Maria got murdered a couple weeks ago on the job, but I haven't seen any notice about her funeral stuff on her social media, why yes, I do know she's dead, oh, she's dead and I'm an idiot for expecting someone dead to post on their socials their funeral deets."

Point was, he could look and ask all he wanted, beat feet for days, but the chances of this lead panning out were basically so minuscule that Jason could treat this more as a hobby case while on vacation. He still did his due diligence, asked the staff a few questions, called the guests on the same floor during the time period of their stay about how they found their stay, ran into the dead end of shitty business practices -they recorded over their own records every two weeks- and so unless Jason got the ability to do magic and do a "point me!" spell, the case would turn cold. It sucked when it happened but sometimes the evidence wasn't there. Or wasn't noticed or was destroyed before it could be collected. Sometimes people just didn't remember shit until three weeks later, which with some follow up digging gave him the lead to the hotel. Which got him nothing after that.

As Jason Todd didn't gain an innate ability to do magic that he was aware of that actually counted as magic bullshit magic instead of a couple cantrips, all he could do was get a beer and some food in a Vegas style Texas saloon bar. Which not his first choice, but it was full enough no one really paid attention to anyone. Technically a sport's bar but also very much was not. It was also busy enough that Jason ended up getting asked if someone could set with him at his table -which real Jason said hell no to, but cover Jason did agree to-

Oh. Meta. Jason realized quickly. Oh no, he's hot.

His hair is on fire!

How did the server miss that? Most metas don't casually out themselves like that! Too many people willing to target them for whatever power.

That hair was flaming, tied back in a low tail; Jason blinked and the hair flickered color, looked like normal hair -black- and then back to white fire, then black fire, some tv static abomination of color, white hair and then black hair. Another blink and it appeared to be black flames for hair and yeah, Jason closed his eyes. Pointedly ignored the hair thing. If the meta asked, Jason was judging him for the stupid little goatee.

The rest of the meta was built along the same lines as Jason himself, tall, broad and built. Packed with muscle, which was something to make note of; metas usually were more durable and could hit harder, so Jason casually made note to not get hit if a fight broke out.

Which it might, or probably would.

That's just how Jason's luck ran. To shit.

Said meta also ordered food and a beer, didn't even get asked for ID -unfair bias- and judging by the sound, turned in the seat to look at the American football screen that Jason had been ignoring. His hair had at least settled to black flames instead of the glitchy hair.

Of course as this was Vegas, people gambled on outcomes of games too. Which is how Jason learned the meta was rich enough to blow a couple grand -not expensive in the world of supers- but more than what the average person would be comfortable betting.

There were better ways to piss away money than gambling on sports. Like on over priced burgers and onion rings with an order of mozzerella sticks. The burger was good, admittedly Jason's had better and then some party of guys was yelling at the ref on a screen. And yup, that's some altercation with another table but the barman broke it up with a couple of words.

His tablemate muttered something about the ref having made the right call if one of the players wanted to continue a career professionally and Jason used that as social leverage to get a name -Dan, no last name given- and a bit more in-depth explanation on what stakes were going on; he's a hockey guy, not a football guy.

Some time later, Dan had caught him up on the football drama -nothing compared to the hockey drama- and conversation had drifted significantly from sports, lightly touched on family -Dan had siblings he shared little about other than they existed, which fair, they could also be metas and at risk- much like Jason did -he had siblings that existed, no further details- and parents weren't mentioned. Instead a lot of engineering talk, a slide into ethics -Dan's opinion on killing super villains was very much that some people needed Ended- and some small talk about how Dan's high school English teacher cursed in classical book titles.

Soon the easy joy of potential friendship ended when his phone rang; that was the Batman ringtone and Jason felt no guilt hanging up on him. And again. And again.

Then Dick rang and nope. He was not dealing with their shit. Dick would just sweeten up whatever shit B wanted to shovel.

And then Oracle's ringtone rang. Oh, now that was serious. Justice League shit spilling into his life again. No fucking doubt about it.

"Uh-huh, so what's up? Because I gotta say, I am a couple drinks in and the whole bar is waiting for one of the football teams to fumble or foul up their next play so they can throw down."

"Jay-" She started because much like Bruce, she would rather go straight into the mission, and Jason absolutely had wrong-footed her. Because instead of making excuses to leave, Jason had absolutely stayed. So now she had to rephrase things on the fly because who knows who might be listening in. "Hey, it's on the news that the Justice League is showing up in Vegas; something about investigating something magical showing up."

"Uh-huh, that's not a surprise. There was some magic ninny flying in a panic earlier. I decided it wasn't my business."

"I hadn't heard that," -bullshit, she just hadn't double-checked that herself yet- "but what I did hear that some cult might have succeeded in bringing something over."

"Uh-huh. Well, no one's praying to Cthulu yet, there's been no troublemaking beyond the usual human malice and nothing's on fire."

"We were just concer-" And Jason hung up on Oracle.

He'd pay for that later, but petty was satisfying now.

"Sounded important."

"Was bullshit."

"So an entity summoned by a cult that tripped a bunch of magicians into a tizzy-"

Yeah, those sharp ears were not for show. Enhanced hearing check. "That's a bunch of incompetents panicking." Time for his good guess to hit or miss. "You're not going to decide to destroy Vegas, are you?"

"Done it before, doing it again seems pointlessly petty." Statements Jason wasn't going to prod further right now.

"And what if Wisconson University loses?"

"Might flip the table." Dan shrugged.

"More beer?" Jason asked.

"Sure."

[mediumgayitalian]

“Can I come over tomorrow?”

Nico’s hands still on the stubborn pillowcase. “To…my cabin?”

“Yes.”

“Um.” He resumes, sliding slowly away from Will’s wide round eyes, stuffing the puffy square of feathers into its fabric prison. The ghost of geese past are not happy with him. He is their prince. They will submit. “Yeah? You could all those other times, too.”

“Yeah, but I want to come over.”

“Yes,” Nico agrees, wondering if this is perhaps one of those moments Kayla warned him about. Has it reached day five of Will not sleeping? He doesn’t think so. He was napping when Nico came into the infirmary this morning to help with the tidying he promised to do. At least he was drooling enough that Nico hopes he was sleeping. “You mentioned.”

“So I can?”

“Yes, Will.”

Maybe it’s just an American thing. Nico has been noticing some Moments lately. He’s not sure if all teenagers have unanimously decided on some code they’d like to speak in during the few months he was busy defeating his great grandmother, or if maybe he’s finally stuck around long enough to notice, but nobody says what they mean, nowadays.

(He has gathered, thus far, that ‘on fleek’ is a synonym for ‘aflame’, although ‘yeet’ continues to evade him. Perhaps because Cecil and Lou appear to have indulged in the sick delight of replacing their every word with the term with the sole purpose to Confuse. Or perhaps, as Will has so indicated, they have each endured one concussion to many and are beyond any hope.)

“Sick!” That one Nico knows, at least. “I’ll come by after my morning shift? Connor got cursed by the Hypnos, Hecate, and Aphrodite cabins this morning so I have to do brain surgery before he forgets how to feel genuine human connection again, but I’ll be done by noon. Probably. I mean, Connor has a thick skull, genuinely I mean, which is why his lobotomy has been delayed so many times, but so long as I —”

It has been under Nico’s notice lately that Will eyes, genuinely, sparkle. He has read the cliche time and time again and rolled his eyes almost every time: diamonds sparkle. Water sparkles. Snow sparkles. Eyes reflect, and sometimes glow with reflection. They do not sparkle. To claim a set of eyes are sparkling is to profess to the world and all capable of registering your words that you are a brainless idiot who cannot dredge up from the depths of your mind, the most barren and bereft back corners, a single unique or clever comparison; a minutely original way to describe excitement or animation.

And yet.

Will is indeed very animated, and very excited about very many things, and it shows on his face; in the wideness of his grins, the springing mass of his curls, the stilted and flailing gilt of his languid limbs. It also shows, perhaps most obviously, in his genuinely magnificent eyes — Nico has seen the Logan Sapphire. He has touched the precious thing with reverent hands, stared in awe as it thrust out the light shine upon it like the golden ichor of Ouranous swirling with the sweet saltwater to birth Love Incarnate. He knows glittering, he knows gleaming, shimmering and shining and twinkling.

Will’s eyes sparkle, like the very tip of a mountaintop, like the crackling ends of a flame, like dewdrops on spider silk. It is transfixing. It is alluring.

“—ico. Nico! Hello-o?”

It is also a trap.

“Sounds great,” Nico says loudly, voice like cold soda over vanilla ice cream. He clears his throat, twice, to no avail. His vision begins to blur as the heat pouring off of his face warps the air. “Um. See you then?”

Will nods, or at least Nico hopes he does. His curls bounce, anyway. They are hard to miss. They remind Nico tangentially of how laughter sounds, unimpeded by shame; how the shimmering satin of a ribbon would curl and bend under the smooth slide of the scissor’s blade.

(His father’s circuit of jesters often included poets playwrights. They also doubled as Nico’s babysitters. Surely no lasting consequences, that.)

“Yes!” He flashes a smile, then, and it becomes imperative to note that his eyes squint at the force of it, and his slightly-too-big teeth brush his bottom lip, and he has, in fact, on each cheek, a dimple.

Now, Will is often and even frequently called Apollo Junior by just about every living soul in camp, up to and including Immortal Camp Director And Horse, Chiron; and uproariously once even Mr D, God of Wine. Allegedly, as taunted by Kayla, even by Will’s own mother. The golden hair and unfortunate habit of winking and legs for days do most definitely create an image.

Nico, however, contrarian he be, must deny: he has seen Apollo. Apollo is beautiful and golden and charming, but Will is not quite his spitting image. Will, more aptly, is the son of the Sun. He glows; the glare of his smile leaves impressions behind in the cells one’s eyes, the glide of his limbs is almost dragging, languid. To look at him is to commit yourself to blinding. To seek so desperately the solace of the light as to ignore the unsettling sting of the burn.

“I can’t wait!”

As a blissful cloud moving in front of the solar system’s brightest star saves your eyes the eternal fate of darkness, Will’s duty so saves Nico from an eternity of shadow. He returns, humming softly and horribly, to his work, sifting through folders and updating patient files, and Nico exhales the breath setting foundations in his lungs, slumping forward in fervent relief. A melancholic reprieve from the summer rays, if only for a moment.

He waves goodbye, or at least he hopes that he does, rushing out the infirmary doors and tripping down the rickety porch steps.

“Hurrying somewhere, Nicholas Claus?” drawls Mr. D, throwing darts a perilously balanced apple atop the horns of a satyr bleating in morse code.

“That was not even an attempt,” responds Nico, and hurries away before he can be dolphinized. Dolphinified? Made into a bottle-nosed beast. (Why bottle? Of all comparisons to make, who decided bottles were the utmost separate object to which the snout of the slippery beasts should be named? Oh, wait, drunk people. Bottles. Okay. Mystery solved.)

He manages, in his heroic retreat across the common, not to destroy entire swathes of grass and plants, a feat for which the Muses could perhaps write epics about. Truly he is capable of the utmost restraint and self-control. He does raise several full sized wolf skeletons, but they seem primarily preoccupied with hunting down the the Stolls, so a win-win as far as Nico is concerned. Probably not for Connor, who is apparently cursed or concussed, he doesn’t remember exactly, but he has managed thus far with his startling amount of daily braincell loss so by statistic and happenstance he is bound to survive another incident.

“There has to be away to shut myself off,” Nico says, out loud to himself, proceeding the slam of his cabin door and the heavy breathing upon it. He turns to his altar. “You mentioned an off button, Father. I don’t suppose it has been successfully implemented.”

No answer comes forth. He indulges in a brief moment of self pity, wherein the Nico who lives in his brain clears his throat, digs around the messy confines of his mind to find an imaginary black hoodie, slips it on, digs around again for a dagger, and stabs himself, choking and twitching pitifully. Real Nico then walks with great purpose to the exact geological centre of the stone cabin.

“Okay,” he says again. He nods, once, narrowing his eyes in determination. The Nico in his brain opens one curious eyelid. (Does Will do psychiatric assessments?) “Okay, this is. Hm.”

It is not the first time they have been alone together, after all.

In the weeks following Gaea’s defeat and Will Solace’s nonstop, irritating persistence, Nico has been thrust in his proximity an incredible number of times. From his three day stay, during which he was simply so unconscious for so long his father was concerned enough to manifest onto the mortal plane and poke at his soul until he responded, to his unofficial indoctrination (ha) as a nurse, to camp clean-up efforts, to cabin renovation, to general life — they have become friends. Coworkers, at least. Together they make the camp a little more bearable for everyone in it, including Nico. It is rewarding work. It is illuminating work; Will is a good teacher, and he is funny, and he is good company (and he happens to have very long legs that he does not bother to cover up very often and Nico has eyes that do what they please). They have been in Nico’s cabin together several times over the last few weeks.

Never before has Will come over without some kind of stated purpose.

At least, not and absence he has made so obvious. True, the renovations took longer than expected, and the paint on the east wall is smudged from where Nico shoved Will, shrieking, off the stepstool, and they have perhaps, on occasion, used Nico’s illegal Wii when they were meant to be helping Annabeth make plans for Capture the Flag, but —

But.

Intent.

Is important.

It has been made abundantly clear to Nico over the summer that he has friends upon which he can rely. Reyna has made a point to Iris Message him at whatever Roman tryhard time she believes he should be awake, prompting an attempted murderous shadow travel that left him unconcious in Missouri and at the unfortunate end of many people’s shouting. And Will’s friends, who can perhaps at this point be called his friends also, have created a game entitled “How Many Grapes Can We Flick At Nico During Lunch Before He Goes Ballistic And Sends Us To Purgatory For A Little While” (four), which they are inclined and inspired to play every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Piper enjoys dragging him around to do Things. Jason is just around constantly. (Does he sleep? Nico should check on that properly.)

He had a point, somewhere. He’s sure he did.

It was maybe the impending anxiety attack, helpfully informs Brain Nico.

“Ah,” regular Nico replies, then grapples around for his least favourite pillow, slams it into his face, and screams at the top of his lungs for several minutes.

Brain Nico decides once again that commentary is the way.

I think we are an all powerful demigod of something, he muses. Dirt, maybe? Bad vibes? I can’t quite remember.

“The dead?” inquires regular Nico.

Do you think those years isolated in the Labyrinth perhaps situated us firmly on the shores of mentally unwell? responds he, blissfully unhelpful.

“I think that was Tartarus, actually,” says regular Nico, and promptly banishes his brain self to the deepest recesses of his mind, among memories of the taste of liquid fire and Calculus.

With the remaining, functioning (well.) part of his brain, he places both palms on the cool floor and attempts to focus.

Juicy Fruit It gets right to ya Juicy salt Hmmm Juicy Fruit, The taste the taste that’s —

For the love of all holy things, Nico begs his brain. It doesn’t work, but what ever really goes right in his life, so he pushes past the increasingly louder replays of eighties commercial jingles and maps out the ground below the cabin floor, pushes through the layers of underground.

Ah. Perfect.

He pulls up the very aptly placed skeleton of a cat, letting it scratch and sniff about his cabin before cautiously approaching him.

“You will be sure to tell it to me straight,” Nico says solemnly, holding out his hand. The cat bobs its nasal cavities in and out of Nico’s fingers and, apparently deciding him to be worthy of its attention, rams its skull against his knuckles. Nico snorts, running a fingernail along its cranial sutures and grinning as its purring echoes in his mind. “You seem very wise.”

The cat’s caudal vertebrae rattle in indignation, miffed at the mere idea that it could be anything other than wise. Nico is honestly quite impressed by its ability to glare without actual eyeballs, eyelids, or thought power.

“I am going to name you after my sister and pray that’s not weird,” Nico says. “I mean, I don’t think she would mind. You’re pretty cool, actually, and Hazel’s cool, kind of, so. Win win.”

Hazel the Cat seems unbothered by her christening, curling up in Nico’s lap. He runs his hand from cranial base to coccyx, finger dipping and bumping along the ridges of her spines, and settles against the cool floor, attempting to breathe evenly.

“It’s just.” He swallows. It takes a try or two, to work around the massive stone borrowed in his throat, and Hazel the Cat nips playfully at his fingers until his lungs settle again. “Before we had something to do, you know? We’d be cutting bandages, and he’d be all, hey, did you know bandages are mentioned in one of the first ever medical manuscripts and definitely predate it by many hundreds of years, and I would say I did, actually, I talked to the guy who made that clay tablet, and his eyes would get all wide and he’d be like no way, tell me everything, and then I would just talk forever.” Nico huffs. “We had something to talk about, you understand. Something to do.”

Nico tries to imagine what Hazel his Sister would say. Probably something along the lines of you are an impossible person, which is code for I have about as much luck as you do in this century, pal, the best I’ve got is hope for the best and remember adults no longer smack you for standing wrong. Which. Fair.

Hazel the Cat just purrs in his head again. It’s as encouraging as anything, he supposes.

“Am I supposed to have…conversation starters? He likes twizzlers and intentionally bad poetry. Maybe I could do something with that?”

Hazel the Cat shrugs at him.

“It’s not even — okay, it’s not just that, though. What is — how close is close enough in a casual setting? Or too close? How am I meant to greet him? Am I supposed to offer something? Make something? What do I do if there’s a lull in conversation? Or if it’s all lulls? Oh, gods, how much silence is socially appropriate —”

Hazel the Cat twists in his hold, meeting his eyes as if to say well I don’t think you’ll be struggling with that last one.

“Shush,” he tells her, but his mouth is twitching. “I’m just — I don’t want him to finally realize I’m weird. Or boring, gods. He’s such a hyper person, you know? He never stops. And I am supposed to entertain him! I think!”

This time he can actually hear his sister’s voice, in the back of his mind — you’re such a dummy. Ringed with fondness from the many times she’s said it to him, shoulders nudged carefully together, head knocked gently against his. You are weird and boring. Most people are.

“Ugh,” he sighs, tipping his head back until it rests against the mattress. “Friendship is hard work.”

Hazel the Cat swishes her tail, rattling the discs of bone like a rattlesnake. It’s a surprisingly soothing sound, like rain pinging softly against his window, or the flutter of the poplar trees outside of his father’s palace. Unconsciously he matches his breathing to it, slowing until it’s even, gentle, deep. His eyes, without any direction from his brain, drift until they blanket his hazy eyes, heavy as stone..

“S’not that serious,” he murmurs to himself, soothed under the weight of his feline friend. “S’just Will, I guess.” A beat. He smiles, slightly, a small, curling thing, mimicking the coiled heat in his belly. “It’s just Will.”

———

part two

[shitty-check-please-aus]

because I've had success asking for travel tips on here in the past

Scotland in June: What's It Like and What Do People Wear?

going off of Google average temperature data, it looks like it's close to Chicago temperatures in May and October- are you wearing shorts or are you dressing for the actual temperature? because here at least I feel like we push our luck in the spring and then bundle up too much too early in the fall

to be clear I don't give a shit if people clock that I'm a tourist, I think it's pretty easy to tell I'm an American and I don't even blend in in my own city because I dress like a kindergarten teacher, but I'm curious what the situation is like. And I want to know if I will need to plan on delaying my annual "putting winter clothes in storage" task

ALSO I'm sure I'll find stuff by googling but do you have anything weird about your trains that a tourist wouldn't know? I've ridden on Amtrak and Trenitalia no problem in the past but I see people on YouTube or Instagram in some countries being like "this idiot tourist thought their ticket meant they'd be able to sit down" and I would rather not be the tourist in that kind of scenario

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

mike luckovich :: [@mluckovichajc]

* * * *

"America last."

February 8, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

On Wednesday, the dysfunction of congressional Republicans plumbed new depths: Senate Republicans blocked a procedural vote to advance funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Supporting each of those nations is in America’s vital interest. Failing to do so undermines global order and brings America closer to active confrontation with Russia, China, and Iran, at least.

The defeat was expected because Donald Trump wants to continue the crisis at America’s southern border to advance his partisan political interest. But the move also advanced the partisan interests of another politician—Vladimir Putin. Like Trump, Putin is temporizing, biding time in the hope that the clock will run out on Ukraine’s resources to resist Russia’s invasion. In Donald Trump's world, the hierarchy of interests is Trump first, Putin second, and America last.

The notion that Trump has re-ordered the national interests to put America last is not mine. It belongs to Thomas L. Friedman, who wrote an op-ed in the NYTimes, The G.O.P. Bumper Sticker: Trump First. Putin Second. America Third. (Accessible to all.)

Friedman writes,

There are hinges in history, and this [aid bill] is one of them. What Washington does — or does not do — this year to support its allies and secure our border will say so much about our approach to security and stability in this new post-post-Cold War era. Will America carry the red, white and blue flag into the future or just a white flag? Given the pessimistic talk coming out of the Capitol, it is looking more and more like the white flag, autographed by Donald Trump. “Trump First” means that a bill that would strengthen America and its allies must be set aside so that America can continue to boil in polarization [and] Vladimir Putin can triumph in Ukraine . . . .

A meme is developing that asserts that the GOP has surrendered to Trump. While that may be true, the deeper truth is that Trump has delivered the GOP into the hands of Vladimir Putin. The GOP is no longer serving the interests of the Americans who elect Republicans to Congress but instead acts as a skulk of useful idiots who unwittingly advance Putin’s interests.

Just ask Tucker Carlson, the poster boy for MAGA’s Putin Caucus. He traveled to Moscow to interview Putin because Carlson believes that major media outlets have not reported the truth about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Tucker Carlson believes that Putin will “tell the truth” about Russia’s invasion.

Remember that time when Putin assured the world he had no intention of invading Ukraine? See CBS News (2/24/22), Putin attacked Ukraine after insisting for months there was no plan to do so. Shortly after issuing those denials, Putin brutally attacked the civilian populations and infrastructure in Ukraine and kidnapped hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children. The International Court of Claims has issued an arrest warrant for Putin for the war crime of unlawful transportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

It is that Vladimir Putin—the fugitive war criminal and inveterate liar--that Tucker Carlson is preparing to lionize in an interview that will be lapped up by useful idiots who skitter at the mere arching of an eyebrow by Trump. As Trump prolongs a crisis at the US border and delays aid to Ukraine, he is serving Vladimir Putin’s interests first. Commentators are right in asserting that a megalomaniac has engineered a hostile takeover of the GOP—but it is not Trump. It is Putin.

How should we react? Should we despair? Should we shrink from another story that seems to turn the world on its head? No. We need only recognize that the rot in the GOP is beyond repair and that electing Joe Biden is a necessary condition to preserving democracy.

There is no gray area in the 2024 election. A vote for Trump is a vote for Putin. A vote for RFK Jr. is a vote for Putin. A vote for No Labels is a vote for Putin. Staying home is a vote for Putin. A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Democracy. It’s that simple.

Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter

[memoriae-lectoris]

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the lexicon of disability also included “cretin,” “ignoramus,” “simpleton,” “maniac,” “lunatic,” “dullard,” “dunce,” “demented,” “deranged,” “schizoid,” “spastic,” “feebleminded,” and “psychotic.” Appearing in lectures and scholarly writings, these terms, when used by men of medicine, were intended only to be clinically descriptive and specific.

Inevitably, however, each of these words would be co-opted by the public and deployed out of their clinical context, used to mock, wound, and stigmatize. Such shifts in meaning forced the earliest professional organization for intellectual disability in the United States to go through five name changes in its history. Founded in 1876, the Association of Medical Officers of American Institutions for Idiotic and Feebleminded Persons became, in 1906, the American Association for the Study of the Feebleminded. In 1933, it was renamed the American Association on Mental Deficiency. In 1987, it became the American Association on Mental Retardation, and, in 2006, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. “Retarded,” once one of the most neutral terms in the vocabulary of disability—a high-toned way of saying “delayed”—had long since become the root word for a variety of slurs in the culture at large.

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson showed political courage that is rare in Washington and notable legislative skill for an inexperienced leader in forcing a long-delayed $60 billion aid bill for Ukraine through the House of Representatives on Saturday.

Johnson put his own job in extreme peril to stand up for a democratic nation victimized by an unprovoked invasion by Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and to bolster America’s leadership of the West(..)

P.S. Johnson saved America's face, but irreparable damage is already done by delays. Six months in war is equivalent to an entire era in peace.

MAGA Republicans have not gone anywhere and many Americans are ready to vote for these idiots. In Europe and other Western countries, no one is ready to make their security dependent on the whims of idiots. That is why it is most likely that the slogan "Made in Europe" will gain priority in the defence industry and arms procurement.

Changes are already taking place not only in the defense industry, but also in other areas! Europeans don't naively look at America with rose-colored glasses. American culture doesn't look cool anymore. American business will lose billions of dollars thanks to MAGA's party of idiots...!!!!

[vivaciouscynner]

oh right, i forgot about the choose your own adventure story again. Sorry. It's been absurdly busy. I can usually bang one out before going to bed if I don't care about quality

i guess while i'm here i'll update you on Divinity and Her Flaws: So yeah, Chapter 12 still in progress. I really don't have a timeframe when it'll be done. I have very specific and important scenes to put in and because I DO care about the quality, it's taking me a long time to get sentences and paragraphs to sound right.

I swear my process is like:

just write a simple sentence, get the thought out

okay now describe this

DON'T FUCKING FORGET HER TAIL... AND... AND HER EARS

DON'T FORGET HOW THINGS SMELL, OMG GO BACK, DID YOU FORGET TO DESCRIBE .... THE LEAF?!?!?! OH YOU BIG FUCKING IDIOT!

wait that's an american saying. make everything easy to translate

i don't know what i'm doing

cry

[everyday i- punches wall meme]

delete

retry

goddamn it, is it night or day now? why is it night? didn't they just wake up? Wasn't in morning in the last paragraph?

screaming

well that's enough writing today

The writing: "Adora giggled."

so, you know, buttery smooth writing - no troubles at all haha

Just also know that I have like work and school to do which unfortunately has higher priority. So I apologize for those delays - i am suffering lol.

I also need to read a little more to get INTO writing mode because my writing degrades if that's all I do.

ANYWAY, that's where I'm at.

[wanderinginksplot]

Honestly, the most intriguing parts of the Roanoke Colony incident happened before and after the colonists 'disappeared'. I'm about to give way too much information, but this incident has always fascinated me!

If you'll indulge me, here some important background information:

In 1578, Queen Elizabeth I gave Sir Humphrey Gilbert the right to colonize North America. The charter was commonly believed to mean that he could claim any land north of Spanish-claimed Florida. When Sir Humphrey died, that charter was given to his brother, Adrian Gilbert, and his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. The catch was that Humphrey died in 1583 and his brothers only had until 1591 to establish a colony if they wanted the land granted by the charter.

Okay, now to the actual history of Roanoke:

In 1584, Raleigh sent an expedition to explore and find a promising area for a colony. The expedition, made up of 100 men, was led by Ralph Lane and landed on Roanoke Island. (Keep in mind, this is Roanoke, Maryland in the Outer Banks, not Roanoke, Viriginia.) Lane quickly made enemies of every surrounding Native American tribe, so the expedition had to leave because they ran out of food.

Also present on the 1585 expedition was mapmaker John White. White was promised 500 acres of land if he made maps of the area.

Since Lane was such an idiot the first time around, Raleigh put John White in charge of the 1587 expedition and made him governor. Now, John White wasn't stupid and he knew that the Native American tribes nearby would hate any settlers. Roanoke was never the intended destination for the second colony - Chesapeake was.

The interesting thing was that, when the ship stopped in Puerto Rico for supplies, one of the sailors told the Spanish that they were going to Roanoke. There's a theory that Sir Walter Raleigh's rivals sabotaged the Roanoke colony.

The theory goes on to suggest that Fernandes, the captain of the flagship Lion, was bribed. Fernandes was an experienced sailor who was familiar with the area, but took a great deal of time to make basic preparations and took unnecessary detours. The colonists arrived on Roanoke Island on July 22nd, way too late to plant crops like they had intended. (There's also some evidence that there was a severe drought in the area.) Since they were short on supplies and none of the local tribes were friendly enough to trade with, the colonists sent John White back to England to bring back more food and supplies.

John White did leave for supplies on August 27th, as mentioned above, and his return was delayed by the Anglo-Spanish War. He left in 1587 and got back in 1590. But he didn't find bodies, bones, signs of destruction, or even the settlement he had left. The buildings had been taken down, disassembled rather than destroyed. Even the trunks of personal belongings White buried before he left had been dug up and looted.

As everyone knows, the word Croatoan was carved into a tree and Cro was carved into one of the supports on the fort. That's significant for two reasons: First, nearby Croatoan Island was where the Powhatan tribe lived. The Powhatans had been friendly and willing to trade with the settlement after White had done some work repairing relations.

The second reason it's significant is because the 1587 expedition had a code planned out. If the colony came under distress, someone was to carve a Maltese cross into something in the area. If they hadn't carved anything at all, White may have assumed that they were surprised and didn't have time to carve anything before they were taken. But something had been carved and there were no Maltese crosses in the area, so White was understandably confused.

The sailors in the 1590 relief mission pressed White to leave since one of the cables on the ship had snapped and it was down to one anchor - greatly increasing the risk of a shipwreck. With that in mind and a storm blowing in, the group elected to leave, spend the winter repairing the ship in the Caribbean, and return in the spring of 1591. White agreed to this, potentially because they had seen smoke on the island and found fresh tracks, but had never been approached. The assumption was that the colonists would have made contact if they had been free to. Without time to launch a rescue, the group had little choice but to leave.

Unfortunately, the ship was blown off-course and ended up returning to England in late October.

Now, the history around Roanoke is muddy. That's on purpose. Sir Walter Raleigh publicly stated his belief that the colonists were alive, but mostly because his claim to the charter was upheld until someone could prove that the colony members had died. He also claimed to stage at least one search in Maryland for information, but it was a cover story while he searched for El Dorado, then again when he wanted to covertly harvest sassafras. Any further attempts were halted when he was arrested for treason against King James.

We're not even 100% sure where the 1587 colony was. Due to poor record-keeping and changing geography, the original location was unknown even by the early 1600s. (Ironically, we do know where the 1585 colony was.) And yes, while there were plenty of reports of Native Americans with light eyes and hair, no definitive proof of the colonists was ever found. This was especially hard on White, whose family - including his young granddaughter - were among the colony members.

There have been attempts to trace DNA of the lost colonists to see if they really did integrate with nearby tribes. As of this time, the program has not identified any living descendants of the lost colonists, mostly due to a lack of original DNA to use as a point of comparison.

And don't even get me started on the Dare Stones.

(If you're interested in learning more about the Roanoke Colony, I highly suggest the podcast episode 'What happened to the lost colony at Roanoke?' from Stuff You Should Know.)

not to be a history fucker on main but the whole mystery of the lost colony of roanoke is so fucking funny

[sheetmusiclibrarypdf]

Irving Berlin: Puttin' on the Ritz Jazz Arrangement (sheet music)

Irving Berlin: Puttin' on the Ritz Jazz Arrangement with sheet musicPlease, subscribe to our Library. Thank you!Musical structureLyricsLyricsSheet Music download here.Browse in the Library:

Irving Berlin: Puttin' on the Ritz Jazz Arrangement with sheet music

https://vimeo.com/494625932

"Puttin' On the Ritz" is a song written by Irving Berlin. He wrote it in May 1927 and first published it on December 2, 1929. It was registered as an unpublished song August 24, 1927 and again on July 27, 1928. It was introduced by Harry Richman and chorus in the musical film Puttin' On the Ritz (1930). According to The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin, this was the first song in film to be sung by an interracial ensemble. The title derives from the slang expression "to put on the Ritz", meaning to dress very fashionably. This expression was itself inspired by the opulent Ritz Hotel in London. Hit phonograph records of the tune in its original period of popularity of 1929–1930 were recorded by Harry Richman and by Fred Astaire, with whom the song is particularly associated. Every other record label had their own version of this popular song (Columbia, Brunswick, Victor, and all the dime store labels). Richman's Brunswick version of the song became the number-one selling record in America. The song was featured in the 1974 Mel Brooks horror/comedy Young Frankenstein. The song is performed by Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) and his monster (Peter Boyle). The song also received renewed popularity in 1982 when Taco, a Dutch musician, recorded and released a new version of the song. Taco's version was accompanied by a music video, which aired on MTV and other music video networks and programs. Musical structure The song is in AABA form, with a verse. According to John Mueller, the central device in the A section is the "use of delayed rhythmic resolution: a staggering, off-balance passage, emphasized by the unorthodox stresses in the lyric, suddenly resolves satisfyingly on a held note, followed by the forceful assertion of the title phrase." The marchlike B section, which is only barely syncopated, acts as a contrast to the previous rhythmic complexities. According to Alec Wilder, in his study of American popular song, for him, the rhythmic pattern in "Puttin' On the Ritz" is "the most complex and provocative I have ever come upon." Lyrics The original version of Berlin's song included references to the then-popular fad of flashily dressed but poor black Harlemites parading up and down Lenox Avenue, "Spending ev'ry dime / For a wonderful time". In the United Kingdom, the song was popularized through the BBC's radio broadcasts of Joe Kaye's Band performing it at The Ritz Hotel, London restaurant in the 1930s. The song was featured with the original lyrics in the 1939 film Idiot's Delight, where it was performed by Clark Gable and chorus, and this routine was selected for inclusion in That's Entertainment (1974). Columbia released a 78 recording of Fred Astaire singing the original lyrics in May 1930 (B-side – "Crazy Feet", both recorded on March 26, 1930). For the film Blue Skies (1946), where it was performed by Fred Astaire, Berlin revised the lyrics to apply to affluent whites strutting "up and down Park Avenue". This second version was published after being registered for copyright on August 28, 1946.

Lyrics

If you're blue and you don't know where to go to Why don't you go where fashion sits Puttin' on the ritz Different types who wear a day coat Pants with stripes And cutaway coat, perfect fits Puttin' on the ritz Dressed up like a million dollar trouper Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper (super duper) Come let's mix where Rockefellers walk with sticks Or "umberellas" in their mitts Puttin' on the ritz Have you seen the well-to-do up and down Park Avenue On that famous thoroughfare with their noses in the air High hats and Arrow collars white spats and lots of dollars Spending every dime for a wonderful time If you're blue and you don't know where to go to Why don't you go where fashion sits Puttin' on the ritz Different types who wear a day coat Pants with stripes And cutaway coat, perfect fits Puttin' on the ritz

Sheet Music download here.

Read the full article

[mariacallous]

Fall is a creepy time in the European Union capital.

Ghosts of ex-commissioners are haunting the Berlaymont, cobwebs are growing over dormant EU institutions, and bonfires of red tape are crackling.

As the nights draw in there’s a lot more to fear as new commissioners fret about the skeletons in their closets, or as ghoulish figures in the United States freak Eurocrats out. Over in the European Parliament, lawmakers prepare to pose that dreaded question: “Trick or treaty change?”

Here’s our guide to who’s scared of whom. 

Everyone is scared of Björn Seibert

Don’t be fooled by the low-key, soft-spoken charm of this German official.

As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s chief of staff, Björn Seibert is the guy who makes or breaks careers in the European institutions. “When Björn calls, you know it’s not good news,” said one senior diplomat, who like others spooked by Seibert was granted anonymity to speak nervously.  

Von der Leyen’s most trusted adviser, Seibert followed her in his inevitable sneakers from Berlin to Brussels in 2019. Their whispering in German about key personnel decisions in the Commission is now a common feature of life in the Berlaymont, the Commission HQ.

“The worst thing that can happen is if your file goes to the 13th floor,” said one Commission official, referring to the floor where von der Leyen’s Cabinet works.

“You never know whether it comes back down or not.” 

Von der Leyen is scared of Court of Justice of the EU

There are plenty of good reasons to be creeped out by a bunch of old men in Luxembourg wearing weird, flowing robes.

But Ursula von der Leyen has an additional one: her alleged lack of transparency over Covid-19 vaccine contracts. 

The European Commission is challenging an EU court decision reached in July that partly ruled against its decision to redact large parts of the contracts signed between the executive and pharmaceutical companies before making them available to the public.

In parallel, the Court of Justice will hear details of a second case next month — the “Pfizergate” legal battle over access to alleged text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in the run-up to the EU’s Covid-19 vaccine deal.

Everyone is scared of Donald Trump

The pumpkin-themed president is on the cusp of a comeback — one that might even shock the EU into standing on its own two feet.

With just days to go until the U.S. election, Brussels is bracing for a potential second Trump presidency and what the emboldened Republican candidate could mean for the European Union. The bloc is preparing contingency plans if Trump holds back American financial and military support to Ukraine.

MEPs are scared of Olivér Várhelyi 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s man in Brussels has built a reputation for producing jump scares, whether it comes to enlarging the bloc or unilaterally cutting funding for Palestinians.

But the horror movie — as many would see it — could yet have a sequel. Olivér Várhelyi is preparing for a big interview to become the EU health commissioner, and his own comments and actions — like when he called MEPs “idiots” in the European Parliament last year — might come back to bite him.

There has also been an outcry among health-focused European lawmakers and organizations, who were spooked by his inexperience in healthcare policy.

The scariest part of the equation could be what happens if Várhelyi doesn’t make it through his parliamentary hearing. Rumors abound that Orbán could propose a replacement with even closer ideological ties to him, or even delay the process for months.

Orbán is scared of the European People’s Party

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is the nightmare keeping EU leaders awake at night, not least because he blocks decisions among heads of government and flies to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But he has his own demons in Brussels. 

The European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament has thrown its doors open to Orbán’s main nemesis, opposition leader Péter Magyar, who is now polling above Orbán’s Fidesz party in Hungary.

Back home, that warm welcome is bolstering Magyar in his campaign against Orbán, who was himself an EPP member before they parted ways three years ago.

“You did not win the [EU] elections, Fidesz is not the winner of the elections … the EPP, we win elections,” EPP chief Manfred Weber recently told Orbán during a debate in the European Parliament. “I know you are nervous … Péter Magyar will defeat you in Hungary,” he added. 

Socialists are scared of Raffaele Fitto 

Europe’s Socialists don’t think Italy’s new commissioner is Fitto for office.

What’s scaring them is that Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, elected in 2022, has managed to put one of her strongest allies at the heart of the EU project in Brussels, a city that has traditionally been run by a firm handshake between Socialists and the center-right EPP.

Fitto, who could be in charge of cohesion policy if approved in commissioner hearings next week, would be a top player in the European Commission, and an executive vice president no less, meaning other commissioners will need to report to him.

In the days before the commissioner hearings, that will jangle the nerves of Socialists who don’t want to see their influence on the policy agenda disappear.

Diplomats are afraid of the French ambassador

Philippe Léglise-Costa, the French ambassador to the EU, is so notorious in the Brussels bubble that he’s known as “PLC.”

He is one of the key members of Coreper, meetings where envoys of the EU’s 27 member countries try to bridge their differences on a wide range of EU policies.

Léglise-Costa doesn’t just represent French interests, he is also one of the most experienced and skilled political operators of all the ambassadors.

Newcomers to Brussels know how important it is to get PLC and his German counterpart, Michael Clauss, on their side to get deals done. Speaking French helps, but the main thing is not to be intimidated when PLC tries to corner you with his technical savviness on key files. 

Migrants are scared of Magnus Brunner 

Don’t even try coming to Europe or you’ll end up in a “return hub” — that’s the message the EU is now aggressively sending to people trying to enter the bloc without the needed paperwork.

Magnus Brunner, set to be the new commissioner for migration, will have the job of hammering home that message — and making the threat real. The Commission is also planning a revamped law on deporting people back to their home countries.

The incoming Austrian commissioner is a tennis enthusiast who plans to use his court skills to swat away asylum claims.

No one is scared of the European ombudsman 

EU transparency and ethics czar Emily O’Reilly is about to step down from the job she’s held since 2013 — but the only thing that could scare you is the “O” in her name. 

That’s because the ombudsman only has the power to slap the European Commission on the wrist and accuse it of “maladministration” — basically being shoddy at its job — rather than actually punish it.

[the-firebird69]

direct.campingworld.com/rvdetails/new-travel-trailer-rvs/coleman-bunkhouse-10k-2316633

So Trump is next door and people don't believe him when he says he's going to try and do the right thing and such they never do and he's going to die. People should not believe him he's a stone cold liar and he is lying to our son saying he's going to get him something I mean this guy's a huge a****** I want people to be an a****** of ours to this guy's Trump and his people. Is it venomous snake he has to be held in regards as to what he is he's going on trial for Mar-A-Lago at the end of July they say and they said they're setting the date and you can look at nothing in court or you can select it and she put a calendar up and it says late July so they put their selections in and our sun turns around and says I don't know why the f*** they're doing that why they would delay a trial for a trial where you can't have the documents in it site both sides are idiots and that's what it is his daughter is judge. So soon they're playing this game in public about choosing classified documents and you should not be able to have any in court and our son Johnson says it's kind of a joke on you because they come out and they'll give you the file right and they'll have one page and it'll list what it was and the clearance level and you're f***** cuz that's all they need to say. And everybody knows it so your daughter is not going to be able to say anything. You should at least check about if they can show it and they're saying no now you're saying that you checked it that's something that you want to look at in court and it doesn't matter because you're legally not going to be allowed to by the federal government it's treason again and you want to try and committed again. That's the way I look at it. You have a certain clearance level on each document because the f*** what's inside it you want to have it after you were let go from the job. Turns around and says who the hell would not know to put it that way I'd say the judge I judge the judge is not you it doesn't like you. And they don't have to present the documents as to what's inside you're the one who came up the idea to try and do it and the American public says who the hell is this guy to open our secret documents is it in and during a court case opening them the first place was a f****** keeping them that his house was a f****** now he wants to repeat it. And that's what it looks like. To everybody. Even the judge was wondering what the hell you're talking about no just letting you sit there and screw yourself. I woke up this morning to these two yelling at each other Dave and Trump and they were down the street no they're out in front of the house and the sun was woken up a little I was wondering what the hell it was he doesn't see the truck lights and after about 20 minutes he fell back asleep but the city outside yelling at each other and someone across the street said I told you to move on and they got what that meant now they're in trouble and they know it a little and they're doing all sorts of stupid s*** to people who want them out of the apartment and yeah these weird queer people like these two exist and a lot of them get killed and we hate them. I'm going to have to do a lot more strict things to these idiots they're treated like children and they need to be treated and tried and helped responsible like adults and we're going to go ahead and do it I'm putting the order out now and I know how to say it. So I want them out we need them out we have to have them out and we're going to make them leave we are also going to flush out anybody supporting him being an a****** and we are going to ruin them and we also really need to get him out of office in his cronies and people should start firing his cronies to make it a reality.

There's several lawmakers who want to rename Dulles international airport as Trump international airport and he was the airport was named after Dwight d Eisenhower who went over and save the whole bunch of idiots from being killed by their own he also wants to be put on they want him to be put on the $500 bill a few other really stupid things our son says he's a rebel but he's not a good one and he's very evil to most of the other rebels and they know about it now and he murders his own family is a disgrace to the country and you should not be allowed anywhere near DC not to mention having people trying to put him on a new currency value in the USA he should be hung for what he's done nobody wants to hear this s*** about this moron. All over the world are talking about how stupid Americans are and basically they're they're pretty stupid people here you idiots run the place are hit with TBI almost half of you so stupid now your leadership is dying and it's 50% gone. And the pseudo empire 2 all your retards are getting killed who run things believe it or not your people do not know how to run stuff without leaders you're top dogs are jackasses right now they're Manning up again he lost an additional 3 million each in the past hour heavy fighting developed. And the numbers are going up of dead leaders. The morlock we're up to about 50% now it's 55% and we mean gone forever the warlock where the pseudo empire were at 40% now they're in 45%. It's going to happen like this here in this wonderful place. This more happening too all of the Mac morlock are gearing up and it is mostly them still at the Cavern entrances they're fat asses in the way. And they're going to enter tonight and they're going to all die and we're going to use it as cover and we're going to raise our kju using their blood and and sinew and bone. They doing us no doubt about it we are going to use you up it's you're presenting yourself in that way. You freaking idiot losers. We think by Friday your leadership should be gone and yeah you'll be easier right now it's not so difficult. Yeah 55% and that's of last year. The getting ready to mount a large-scale attack of our own on you imbeciles all over the world. It will be massive we have prepared for you a nice army of nights in White satin to kill you and people that look like you and we're going to send them at you and all over the place and it's for what you're saying you're going to do nobody says that stuff to us. Or we will arrive on your doorstep with guns out. It's happening now we're going to see you shortly. Little ships that went up into the Midwest are gone and you're saying you're going to attack and you will send more into those three base areas we will have only one or two more waves of that nature and we will control those bases in areas.

Furthermore when the sending this waves in they send them up the river and it will atritt the remaining forces and we will start taking territory for real up there and not wait for them to fall in a row and our father and mother said it this morning. It will be much faster and safer we will have preparations for the whole bunch that will start taking effect and we will build up and we rip their ships out of their hands tired of listening toddlers too. You have to understand that you are killing yourself by doing what you're doing here in punta Gorda I've never seen so many people be despicable to one person is valuable you're a bunch of ignorant pieces of s*** can't believe how f****** stupid you are take someone's money and you think they're going to be happy with you it's the first one you should know you get killed for it everyday by other people. People in fisherman's village were not happy with his comments and said he'll pay for it and every time you do that I take tons of stuff from you and you're so stupid you can't tell it's us at all I'm going to rip my shitload out of your hands tonight and he said that today no it was yesterday but we took the s*** too tons of it I'm going to take tons of it from you again a lot more and I'm moving out right now

Thor Freya

Olympus

We'll finally get revenge on this pile of crap here you're all going to die a horrible death and if you're going to die for us

Hera

You're so dumb you see it's coming you know it's going to happen and you don't know what's going to happen at all is what really is so you should save your act as a different effect on your own people here yeah you're stupid and you don't know it

Zues

You say you're going to die and you feel sad you think you're fooling people with him it makes me angry

Tommy f

You're the one who finally toasts us and puts us into a pyramid so it makes sense is it a real pyramid

Trump

Certainly looks like one and it's after the incident with the ship in Florida and yeah you're a stupid person who goes up in your oryx and she's thishivk. No we don't like you people at all you're running around saying this dumb stuff to us keeping every penny from the kid and he's building up for some sort of attack and we have to get rid of you cuz we can't tell what he's doing. And everybody's saying it and nobody cares if you die. You're going to constantly at me doing stupid s*** just like Batman is a nutcase and you're a lunatic the only one who should be at me is not doing it and says that these people hurt me and they had me doing the first place for the max and yeah they're under the influence and they can't help it I can't wait till the attack these guys and hear what they say to them. They can hear it send the senior to their men in the tunnels and they're screaming it on megaphones and big ones is causing their ears to explode the ones that are too close and they're screaming you're nothing we had to do it go home or you're all die and they don't and they all die and you keep saying it too they keep saying it too and it's so horrible nightmare down there

Tommy f

We're done we're done we're not trained for tunnel warfare and we should take a break but we can and it's because of what they're saying to me. You should hear what they say about you they say a lot of stuff. It's a lot of stuff about him and he says they're like us in a way they get killed by stuff they can't see and they just keep opening their mouths and shortly it's going to be a lot of it and I understand something somehow are feeding something we got to get out of here

Trump

Yeah we believe you he's such a little kid and a little girl from Trump I'm opening up the January 6th committee and I'm going to get you up there to DC

Tommy f

I don't care anymore I'm not running for president no I am but I don't care about it I'm going to let cheeseman do it

Trump

Good we'll have to stop him too

Tommy f

I thought I told you what we do if you kept doing a Tommy f

Trump

We're going after you fools now you need your stuff your weakness but only after your stashes and cashes we have tons of you in and we have to do it now

Tommy f

Yeah I guess you're continuing I am an arrogant swine and I keep doing stupid things I guess that's how it goes

Trump

Olympus

[we-do-a-little-developing]

Tapes and combat mechanics

My game will use cassette tapes as weapons, with all 3 having a different primary/secondary attack, hence the code in the last post. There will be a slight delay with attacks changing as the tape animation plays, with a tape being inserted into the tape player

This is my model for the cassette player. It's inspired by the Walkman and the ECHO player from Borderlands 3. The two decorations either side are from two playable tapes, and I just think they looked cool. There are also stickers on the back, namely the American Idiot album cover and the sticker from the Nimrod album - more will be added

aforementioned inspiration

This is Tape 1 - Scout. The music it plays is upbeat and energetic, reflecting the more active playstyle encouraged by the attacks given by the tape - namely the risk-vs-reward bat that applies a 'stunned' statues effect, briefly stopping the enemy from attacking, and a single-barrelled shotgun that is most effective at close range.

This is Tape 3 - Sniper. The played music is a lot calmer and maybe a little jazzy, reflecting the more laid-back playstyle encouraged with the slow-firing but hitscan and high-damage rifle and a dash secondary ability to help keep the player at an effective range

This is Tape 3 - Soldier. The music is more percussion-heavy and militaristic to reflect the playstyle encouraged by the primary rocket [which can be used as mobility at the cost of health] and a secondary melee that does a lot of damage if used whilst airborne

When it comes to healing, I have 3 options: 1] no. All damage is permanent until the fight ends. This makes the battle considerably more difficult 2] healing via damage done. This system is used in games such as Ultrakill and encourages more of an aggressive playstyle, but I likely won't be able to implement the mobility mechanics to keep up 3] healing manually. This requires the player to cease attacking and play an animation of them rewinding the tape. Because of this, they have to make snap risk-vs-reward decisions as opposed to the snowballing health system above

[hedonianow]

really did have the most amazing weekend. went out for a fancy rooftop bar with some new friends then to a regular dancey bar for dancing then to a karaoke bar then lyfted home & found a blue gatorade in the lyft then i barely remember ordering a chicken cutlet gyro at the bodega. saturday i woke up sooo nice and late and got some work done and also made it to the gym which was huge bc normally it's really hard for me to get up enough energy to go thank you levothyroxine! & then i just chilled i think, took bean on an extra long walk. then sunday was my big social day, i was supposed to meet corrina and some other folks for lunch but her bus up to new york was delayed so i just went to magnolia bakery bc it was right by the american folk art museum which is where i was about to go with my new friend emma and it was really cool honestly!! and then i went home and ordered hartbreakers and laid down in preparation for the frankie cosmos show which i showed up to at seven like an idiot but because i was in line so early i posted about it and elisheba saw my story about it and came thru so we basically ignored the 2nd opener and frankie made me super emo like that girl is the only person who i think really understands me tbh. soo then kept talking with elisheba and went home and walked bean (all these days ofc start and end with walking bean). oh also saturday is when my debit card came so i got that activated and today i was FINALLY able to withdraw cash and do laundry and then i just got stuff done i went grocery shopping and knocked out some extra work so i'm gonna get paaaaaiiiid & i took a lovely shower & i made vegetable stock & used that to make a cauliflower soup that my fav coworker posted on slack the other day and it was soooo tasty and hearty. i'm really just astonished & proud to see how much i got done this weekend i've really come a long way from my days of just lying in bed doing nothing for hours and not being able to start any projects. there were def some ups and downs, i had a kind of triggering conversation with indra on thursday where she was like very sympathetic to me but also is still remaining friends with the old friendgroup that pushed me out and it's like ok so what is the truth. but i havent let it take me over or really even take over my conversations. anyway tomorrow is my last day at my current position at work and i get to go to therapy too! and tell melissa about all my progress. overall im really proud of io!!!!

[sanktpolypenbourg]

With trans matters I keep thinking, in my country we are usually one or two steps behind in progressive policies and culture compared to the Americans and the British, so the roller coaster ride will be to see if we imitate their progressive policies and jump over the whole transphobic backlash and reversal phase, or we use their transphobic backlash and reversal phase as an excuse to abort our progressive policies, OR we are really idiotic enough to do their transphobic backlash and reversal phase with the usual delay and then the civil rights recovery phase also with the usual delay

Surely we can streamline this by imitating only the good parts, right

[ndewdiver02]

Not only has Russia completely destroyed whatever diplomatic street cred they had built up since the fall of the Soviet Union they’ve also made themselves look like fucking idiots on the global strategic stage.

Take for instance three months into the war when the cruiser Moskva, a ship once vaunted as a “carrier killer” and the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet ate two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles for breakfast and sank. Now the Ukrainians might have had some help, American maritime surveillance aircraft were skulking around at the time but it’s thought that we didn’t directly share the Moskvas location, we just told the Ukrainians how to identify her by her radar emissions signature. (In modern naval warfare Radar is very much a double edged sword, because you can see things but everyone in a few hundred mile radius can track your radar back to the source) the Russians tried to claim there had been a fire on board and she sank the next day while under tow. That is literally the equivalent of one of the American super carriers getting hit three months into a war, the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying there had been a mechanical malfunction and needed to be towed to port for repairs, and it sinking the next day.

Another fine example is the helicopter borne assault conducted by the VDV on one of the airports outside Kyiv on the first day of the war. Airborne, and by extension heliborne, assaults are very good for getting behind enemy lines to seize key ground but they can’t carry a whole lot of firepower with them. Even major airborne assaults are limited to what can be fit in cargo aircraft, limiting airborne units to light armor only, things like the US M2 Bradley or Russian BMP. These Infantry Fighting Vehicles are usually armed with some sort of auto cannon, typically 30 millimeters, some sort of anti tank missile, and a machine gun. A significant asset but even they will struggle to go toe-to-toe with dedicated main battle tanks. This was a heliborne assault, meaning the VDV were limited to infantry and crew served weapons, machine guns, anti tank missiles, and mortars moved and manned by hand.

The overall Russian plan appears to have been to push through Ukrainian lines to the north with heavier units and link up with the VDV within the first 24 hours. But as they did basically everywhere else the Russians vastly underestimated the Ukrainians. The Russian armored offensive from the north ran into a solid wall of Ukrainian resistance. Even the VDV were bloodied before they even landed, with some number of them being shot down enroute. Despite that the VDV initially drove off the small National Guard garrison. Recognizing the danger the Ukrainians committed a decent portion of their reserves, including large amounts of artillery and air support, to retaking the airport. While this was going on 18 Russian transport aircraft were already in the air ready to land heavier reinforcements. They were unable to land because of the fighting and had to turn back. While unconfirmed it seems probable that some number of them were shot down, Russian transport were mauled in the first days of the war by air defense systems or the remnants of the Ukrainian Air Force. The Russian reinforcements broke through Ukrainian lines the next day and the airport fell on Feb. 25th. But the delay was enough to dash Russian hopes for a swift encirclement of the Ukrainian capital.

While war is a horrible tragedy and in my belief ought to be the absolute last resort for any civilized nation in most cases (cases like this, WW2, and the American Civil War are exceptions, you don’t negotiate with foes like that) but for someone with even a passing interest in matters of strategy and tactics it has been fascinating. And as a staunch believer in democracy and not having the world bend to the whim of authoritarian assholes watching the Russian military, which for years was claimed to be every bit the equal of NATO, getting the shit beat out of them by the Ukrainians has been fucking hilarious.

What Putin is doing in Ukraine is not just reckless, not just a war of choice, not just an invasion in a class of its own for overreach, mendacity, immorality and incompetence, all wrapped in a farrago of lies. What he is doing is evil. He has trumped up any number of shifting justifications — one day it was removing a Nazi regime in power in Kyiv, the next it was preventing NATO expansion, the next it was fending off a Western cultural invasion of Russia — for what ultimately was a personal flight of fancy that now requires his superpower army turning to North Korea for help. It’s like the biggest bank in town having to ask the local pawnshop for a loan. So much for Putin’s bare-chested virility.

[ ... ]

Putin lately has stopped even bothering to justify the war — maybe because even he is too embarrassed to utter aloud the nihilism that his actions scream: If I can’t have Ukraine, I’ll make sure Ukrainians can’t have it, either.

[ … ]

This is as obvious a case of right versus wrong, good versus evil, as you find in international relations since World War II.

[ … ]

Ukraine needs to inflict as much damage on Putin’s army as fast as possible. That means we need to massively and rapidly deliver the weaponry Ukraine needs to break Putin’s lines in the country’s southeast. I’m talking the kitchen sink: F-16s; mine-clearing equipment; more Patriot antimissile systems; MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, which could strike deep behind Russian lines — whatever the Ukrainians can use effectively and fast.

— New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, just back from a visit to Kyiv. (archived)

If you're in the US, contact your representative in the House and urge him/her to support the proposed $24 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Representatives | house.gov

If you have the misfortune to be represented by a dumb-ass MAGA zombie like Matt Gaetz and they say no, write back and ask: "Why do you hate freedom?"

Wars don't end just because people in third countries get bored with them.